Rent Your Neighbor’s Possessions at Rentalic Instead of Buying. Save and Be Green.

I love companies that are formed out of a founder’s own frustration especially when they have a green mission. In the case of Rentalic, founder, Punsir Abeywickrema, borrowed a wheelbarrow one weekend from his neighbor. Unfortunately, he was unable to finish the job and felt guilty to ask the neighbor to borrow it again. Instead he rented it from a rental company.

The green light bulb went off in his entrepreneurial mind. And ta dah! He created Rentalic so others could borrow without feeling guilty. So, how did he absolve the guilt? Money.

How does it work?

You list your item and your terms, which may include a security deposit. Someone contacts you. The borrower then gets a pre-approval via a PayPal site or owner’s approval site that verifies you have the funds to rent. The owner designates which of these two options they wish to use.

How do you know that the person who is picking up the item is the person who contacted you?

“When the borrower meets with the owner to retrieve the item or service, the borrower is given an authentic secret code from Rentalic. The owner will input the secret code on Rentalic to initiate the transaction, which allows the funds to be deposited into his account. This unique code will inform Rentalic that the transaction is taking place.”

So, how do I get paid?

Money is transferred from Paypal once the owner inputs the number on Rentalic or via a cell phone.

Now, I have simplified the concept and urge you to watch the below short video of how everyone is protected and comes out happy. At the end of the transaction, each party rates each other so if you are a bad borrower or bad owner, everyone will know.

Rentalic is a win-win for everyone and especially the environment. The Company is paid 5% of the rental cost.

Start your own Group.

You can create a group. One notable one is an organization that collects school supplies for children in Sri Lanka. If you are a college kid and want to start a group to encourage other college students to borrow and not buy (to help out their poor parents) start a group like the Vanderbilt U group (note it is not sanctioned by the university).

There is more college kids. Want to help your parents? Check out the Company’s blog post on how to make some money on renting out your textbooks or bicycle to other students.

So if you are a weekend warrior, budding photographer, or want to take a trip and need some gear, check out Rentalic. I bet someone has something you need that is collecting dust in a corner. Don’t go out and buy it. Instead, why not borrow it and save some green? Umm and be green as well.